BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – Freshman Aasmund Joedahl (Ridabu, Norway) scored with less than three minutes remaining in overtime of Thursday’s NCAA First Round contest pitting the No. 5 Merrimack College men’s soccer team against No. 4 Franklin Pierce, sending the Warriors to the second round. The Navy and Gold will play No. 1 and top-seeded LIU Post on Saturday with a berth in the regional final on the line.

3′ – Franklin Pierce struck the day’s first chance on a set piece just a few yards outside the box. The direct free kick sailed over the head of sophomore Tyler Packett(Eastham, Mass.) and out of play

7′ – Junior Juan Meza (Cali, Colombia) broke in on a partial breakaway, but Franklin Pierce’s center back tracked back to break up the chance

21′ – Senior Alexander Alleyne (Swampscott, Mass.) put Merrimack on the board first. After a through ball intended for Jaime Cortes Torres (Seville, Spain) deflected off a Ravens defender, Alleyne ran on to the ball and slotted a right-footed shot into the side netting

34′ – Marius Preber, Franklin Pierce’s striker and leading goal scorer, broke in all alone on sophomore Tyler Packett (Eastham, Mass.), but the Warriors keeper came off his line and made a sliding stop

36′ – Minutes later, the Warriors doubled their lead. Senior right back Connor O’Brien (Sandwich, Mass.) struck a long ball into the box, where an unmarked Lars Sund(Stavanger, Norway) chested it down and scored on a right-footed touch

56′ – Senior midfielder Oscar Zepeda Cagide (Jalisco, Mexico) connected on a right-footed cross 11 minutes into the second stanza, but it was saved at the far post

63′ – Franklin Pierce cut its deficit in half midway through the second stanza. A right-footed shot from outside the box reached the side netting, out of the reach of Packett

70′ – Senior center back Joseph Briers (Nottingham, England) hit a volley following a free kick from Alleyne the rose high and out of play

81′ – The Ravens tied the game with less than ten minutes to play in regulation. On the near side, Franklin Pierce’s center back Niklas Laudahn found the upper-90 to square the score at two-all

97′ – Merrimack won a corner kick and junior Mattia Lanzi (Viterbo, Italy) delivered a service to junior Juan Meza (Viterbo, Italy), whose header was saved. The rebound went to Joedahl, who wasted no time in striking a right-footed shot into the back of the net to win the game

Inside The Numbers

Playing in his 20th game of the year, Joedahl scored the third goal of his rookie campaign. The tally marked the second time this season he has scored on a rebound following a set piece, doing so on his first career goal against Le Moyne

Alleyne also scored in last season’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Merrimack’s second goal against Le Moyne. The outside midfielder picked up the fourth goal of his campaign

Sund’s strike brought him within one goal of tying for the team lead (5). He increased his team high in points to 18

The victory over the Ravens marked the program’s fifth overall in the NCAA Tournament, and improved their undefeated mark in the opening round to 4-0

Up NextThe Warriors advance to face No. 6 and top-seeded LIU Post in the second round on Saturday at 1 p.m. from the Pioneer Soccer Park. The Navy and Gold dropped a 5-0 tilt to LIU Post in the regular season.